Support for Li Yundi as Chinese sentiment turns against public denunciation of famous pianist for hiring a sex worker
- Li Yundi was utterly discredited after he was accused by police of soliciting a sex worker
- But now people are asking if the crime deserved the shame, and if the police crossed a line by making it public
Now that the dust has settled, the Chinese public is questioning whether the censuring of famous Chinese pianist Li Yundi, who was utterly discredited after he was accused of soliciting a sex worker by police, was reasonable.
But over the past week, some top musicians in China are acknowledging that, while Li may have made a mistake, society should be more tolerant to a man they see as a rare talent.
Legal professionals in China also debated whether the police crossed the line by making Li’s administrative penalty public. Paying for sex is illegal in China, but it is also a minor infraction, one that typically results a detention of up to 15 days.
Zhao Zeguang, a former chairman of the musicians’ association of Dadukou district in Chongqing, a municipality in southwest China where Li was born and raised, said Li deserved the detention penalty but the ripple effect was beyond his imagination and that of many of his peers.
